It’s not just a new design, though — Google also notes that the new Trekker features improved hardware that will allow it to capture better and sharper imagery, thanks to higher-resolution sensors and an increased aperture.

“Like previous Trekker generations, the new version can be put on cars, boats or even zip lines,” the company explains. “This helps when capturing hard-to-access places, or when building maps for developing countries and cities with complex structures.”

While you probably can’t just get a Trekker to map out your garden, Google notes that it continues to run its Trekker loan program. This program is open to organizations like tourism boards, nonprofits, government agencies, universities and research groups.

Chances are, you’ll see some improved Street View imagery from hard to reach places on Google Maps soon. Until then, you can go ahead and take a virtual stroll through Petra or across the beaches of Christmas Island.

]]>https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/18/heres-googles-new-street-view-trekker-backpack/feed/21760270Gift Guide: 6 rugged gifts for outdoorsy friends and familyhttps://techcrunch.com/2018/12/18/outdoor-gear-gift-guide/
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/18/outdoor-gear-gift-guide/#commentsTue, 18 Dec 2018 14:00:07 +0000https://techcrunch.com/?p=1759877Shopping for someone who prefers hiking and camping to the great indoors can be tricky. Not only are outdoor enthusiasts usually less impressed by traditional gifts (clothes, games, etc.) but their preferred realm of technical gear is vast and confusing. If you’d rather not go deep on the research yourself, we’ve got some solid touchpoints for expert outdoor gear gifting.

1. Party tent

Okay, hear me out. As a pack weight-conscious backpacker, the idea of a light-up tent sounded ridiculous at first, but Big Agnes is onto something with their line of mtnGLO tents. I’ve been camping with the two-person Big Agnes mtnGLO Copper Spur tent for more than a season now and these things are really cool. The company has embedded thin strips of LED lighting into the tent itself, illuminating the inside more evenly than you can pull off with a headlamp alone without overpowering your hard-earned nature vibes.

Photo via Big Agnes

A small detachable battery pack powers the lights and you can jettison that bit if you’re really looking to shed ounces. If not, enjoy tent-bound activities like reading and looking for your prescription medication with the newfound freedom of ample light. If your special giftee prefers car camping, then even better: insta-party tent. Or you know, they can fish last night’s socks out of the bottom of their sleeping bag in record time.

If this is too gimmicky (I’m telling you, it’s not!) but you’re looking to gift a tent, check out REI’s in-house brand. They make super-solid tents that are generally priced well below the competition, and even offer a backpacking bundle and a camping bundle that make the perfect starter set of gear for someone new to losing themselves in the great outdoors.

2. Solar Charger

If you’re shopping for a car camper or a day hiker, battery life isn’t much of a concern, but if your special someone likes to get lost in the wilderness overnight, they’ve probably stressed about battery life. Many people rely on their smartphone as their primary camera in the outdoors, so keeping it charged deep into a hike, climb or backpack trip is key. In most of these circumstances, a traditional portable battery would be too heavy and wouldn’t be rechargeable in the field, but solar chargers can solve those problems.

Note: Of course, solar chargers don’t work where sunlight is limited, so if you’re in the Pacific Northwest maybe skip this section.

3. GPS watch

Why not an Apple Watch? Well, a lot of reasons. For anyone who does extensive hiking, climbing and camping in the backcountry, Apple’s smartwatch is far too puny and fragile. Sure, the Apple Watch is the go-to choice for running and day hiking, but is your loved one into bigger, burlier adventures? They’ll need something with more rugged housing, battery life worth writing home about and the capability for prolonged use of the GPS features that help keep them safe — and on route — outdoors.

Garmin makes a lot of solid options here at different price points, including the Garmin Fenix 5 ($449.99), which happily comes in three sizes to accommodate small wrists. Garmin claims up to to two weeks of battery life in smartwatch mode on the Fenix 5, up to 24 hours in its GPS mode and up to 60 hours in battery-saver mode. The Fenix 5 is configurable depending on your activity of choice, with profiles tuned to hiking, snowboarding and mountain biking.

Compass-maker Suunto also offers a few well-liked watches in the space, including the Suunto Ambit 3 Peak, which boasts “route altitude profile navigation and extremely long battery life,” i.e. the stuff you really need.

4. Compact camera gear

We covered camera gifting more extensively in our dedicated photography gift guide, but we’ll toss in a few ideas here just for fun. For anyone into the extreme outdoors (backcountry skiing, mountaineering, climbing etc.) a GoPro is a no-brainer. The company’s latest offering, the GoPro Hero7 Black, is top of the line for $399.99, but other GoPro models are available for significantly less.If you’re looking for something more geared toward photography rather than video, Sony’s RX100 line offers a killer compact camera that won’t take up much space in your pack. The new Sony RX100 V ($899) and RX 100 VI ($1,199) offer a higher-end tiny pro camera, but the still-excellent older models of the Sony RX 100 can be had for a fraction of the price.

5. Satellite messaging

This one might sound a little morbid, but if your loved one gets into a sticky situation miles from civilization, they won’t be complaining. A handful of different devices can allow you to send an emergency signal when your phone can’t, and many of them also allow for non-emergency satellite messaging — handy for coordinating meet-up points or checking in from the backcountry. Among these, the new Garmin InReach Mini ($349.99) is well-regarded for its diminutive size and well-rounded feature set, though the Garmin inReach Explorer and Spot X are also solid options.

6. Small Stuff

Okay, so you need a gift for someone outdoorsy but you want to find something a little more low-key. Maybe a stocking stuffer or a casual-friend gift. We can do that. A lot of people have touchscreen-friendly gloves, but do they have technical touchscreen-friendly gloves? Snag a pair of the North Face’s ETip gloves, which are both cute and functional, or pick up a set of Mountain Hardware’s Power Stretch Stimulus Gloves, which make a nice grippy glove liner.

And we’d be remiss if we didn’t recommend the Gaia GPS app, available for both iPhone and Android at $19.99. For navigating outdoors with topographical maps and even fairly complex routefinding, Gaia can’t be beat. Of course, we’d also be remiss if we didn’t remind you to bring a paper map — just in case.

]]>https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/18/outdoor-gear-gift-guide/feed/11759877Ford comes up with a prototype noise-cancelling kennel to shelter dogs from fireworkshttps://techcrunch.com/2018/12/17/ford-comes-up-with-a-prototype-noise-cancelling-kennel-to-shelter-dogs-from-fireworks/
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/17/ford-comes-up-with-a-prototype-noise-cancelling-kennel-to-shelter-dogs-from-fireworks/#commentsTue, 18 Dec 2018 05:24:16 +0000https://techcrunch.com/?p=1760027Dogs have a much wider range of hearing than humans, and noises that don’t bother us can give them a very ruff time. Fireworks are especially tough on many pups, and also hard on owners who have to calm their panicking pets. To potentially help them, Ford has developed a noise-cancelling kennel prototype that it says was inspired by the noise-control technology introduced in its Edge SUV to soften engine and transmission noises.

When microphones inside the kennel detect the sound of fireworks, a built-in audio system sends out opposing frequencies that Ford claims significantly reduces or cancels the cacophony. The kennel is also built with high-density cork to further mute outside noises.

The noise-cancelling kennel is not currently for sale, but Ford says it “is the first in a series of initiatives—called interventions—that applies automotive know-how to help solve everyday problems.”

You might remember, especially if you have a small child, that last year Ford developed a cot called Max Motor Dreams to calm babies who only fall asleep in moving vehicles, a situation many exhausted parents (with high-mileage cars) are familiar with. The cot had small motors underneath that simulated the feel of a moving vehicle, played actual road noise and even had built-in LED lighting to mimic the glow of streetlights.

]]>https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/17/ford-comes-up-with-a-prototype-noise-cancelling-kennel-to-shelter-dogs-from-fireworks/feed/11760027This fake package covers porch thieves in glitter and fart sprayhttps://techcrunch.com/2018/12/17/this-fake-package-covers-porch-thieves-in-glitter-and-fart-spray/
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/17/this-fake-package-covers-porch-thieves-in-glitter-and-fart-spray/#commentsMon, 17 Dec 2018 23:34:48 +0000https://techcrunch.com/?p=1759934Having a package stolen off your front porch sucks. No matter what’s inside the box, it just feels… violating. Someone came into your space and took your stuff just because they could probably get away with it. And even if you go to the cops with license plates and high-res face photos, they’ll often respond with a big, apathetic shrug (particularly around Christmas when package thefts skyrocket).

After having one of his own packages nabbed, engineer/YouTuber Mark Rober decided to take things into his own hands. He built a box that… well, it’ll make any would-be thieves think twice before hitting his house again. And probably make them have to go buy a really good vacuum.

Here’s the video:

In what might be the most wonderfully over-engineered act of lighthearted retaliation to ever exist, this thing is just layer upon layer of ingenuity.

It starts with a GPS tracker that lets Mark know when the box has been moved.

As soon as it’s opened, a custom-built spinning tub flings ridiculously fine glitter in every direction, covering whoever opened it from head to toe (or, in many of the filmed cases, from car door to car door). Look for the slo-mo glittersplosion at around the four-minute mark — that alone is a work of art.

A few seconds later comes a blast of canned fart spray. Or, I should say, the first blast of canned fart spray… because it keeps coming (partly in hopes that the thief throws out the box, allowing Mark to use the GPS tracker to recover it).

Oh, and the whole thing is being filmed (and uploaded online!) from basically every angle, thanks to a very carefully aligned rig of four hidden cameras.

And there’s more! I don’t want to spoil it, but everything down to the tiny details of the box itself were planned out to make thieves feel a little bit more silly after the glitter settles.

Now, this probably isn’t something you should try at home. Building packages that use hidden switches and circuit boards to do unexpected things when you open them seems like something that can land you on a list. But holy wow, watching it is therapeutic.

]]>https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/17/this-fake-package-covers-porch-thieves-in-glitter-and-fart-spray/feed/121759934Amazon Echo speakers now play friendly with Apple Musichttps://techcrunch.com/2018/12/14/apple-music-amazon-echo/
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/14/apple-music-amazon-echo/#commentsFri, 14 Dec 2018 21:29:17 +0000https://techcrunch.com/?p=1759306Amazon recently said Apple Music would find its way onto Amazon Echo devices sometime soon — and sure enough, it appears to be rolling out now.

To make Alexa work with Apple’s streaming service, you should just have to jump into the newly updated iOS/Android Alexa app and link up your account. You can find the option under Settings > Music.

Once done, commands like “Alexa, play music by Halsey on Apple Music” should work. Or, if you don’t want to have to say the “… on Apple Music” bit every time, you can just set Apple Music as the default service. If you don’t have a specific artist in mind, you an also request playlists or genres.

One catch: as 9to5mac points out, it appears this currently only works with Amazon Echo speakers, and not yet with third-party speakers (like the Sonos ONE or Polk’s Audio Command sounder) that happen to have Alexa-support built in.

Not a fan of Apple’s offering? Alexa also works with Spotify, Pandora, Tidal, Deezer and Amazon’s own Music service.

Using Google devices, rather than Amazon’s? Alas, still no word on if/when proper Apple Music support might come to Google Home.

Researchers at the University of Zurich and EPFL have created a robot that shrinks to fit through gaps, a feature that could make it perfect for search and rescue missions. The researchers initially created a drone that could assess man-made gaps and squeeze through in seconds using only one camera. This extra feature — a scissor-like system to shrink the drone in flight — makes it even more versatile and allows these drones to react to larger or smaller gaps in nature.

“The idea came up after we worked on quadrotor flight through narrow gaps,” said PhD candidate Davide Falanga. “The goal of our lab is to develop drones which can be in the future used in the aftermath of a disaster, as for example an earthquake, in order to enter building through small cracks or apertures in a collapsed building to look for survivors. Our previous approach required a very aggressive maneuver, therefore we looked into alternative solutions to accomplish a task as passing through a very narrow gap without having to fly at high speed. The solution we came up with is the foldable drone, a quadrotor which can change its shape to adapt to the task.”

The system measures the gap and changes its shape without outside processing, a feat that is quite exciting. All of the processing is done on board and it could be turned into an autonomous system if necessary. The team built the drone with off the shelf and 3D-printed parts.

“The main difference between conventional drones and our foldable drone is in the way the arms are connected to the body: each arm is connected through a servo motor, which can change the relative position between the main body and the arm. This allows the robot to literally fold the arms around the body, which means that potentially any morphology can be obtained. An adaptive controller is aware of the drone’s morphology and adapts to it in order to guarantee stable flight at all times, independently of the configuration,” said Falanga.

]]>https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/14/this-drone-shrinks-to-fit/feed/21759099Facebook Portal adds games and web browser amidst mediocre Amazon reviewshttps://techcrunch.com/2018/12/14/facebook-portal-browser/
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/14/facebook-portal-browser/#commentsFri, 14 Dec 2018 14:07:32 +0000https://techcrunch.com/?p=1759089After receiving a flogging from privacy critics, Facebook is scrambling to make its smart display video chat screen Portal more attractive to buyers. Today Facebook is announcing the addition of a web browser, plus some of Messenger’s Instant Games like Battleship, Draw Something, Sudoku and Words With Friends. ABC News and CNN are adding content to Portal, which now also has a manual zoom mode for its auto-zooming smart camera so you can zero in on a particular thing in view. Facebook has also added new augmented reality Story Time tales, seasonal AR masks, in-call music sharing through iHeartRadio beyond Spotify and Pandora that already offer it and nickname calling so you can say “Hey Portal, call Mom.”

But the question remains who’s buying? Facebook is already discounting the 10-inch-screen Portal and 15-inch Portal+. Formerly $100 off if you buy two, Facebook is still offering $50 off just one until Christmas Eve as part of a suspiciously long Black Friday Sale. That doesn’t signal this thing is flying off the shelves. We don’t have sales figures, but Portal has a 3.4 rating on Amazon, while Portal+ has a 3.6 — both trailing the 4.2 rating of Amazon’s own Echo Show’s 2. Users are griping about the lack of Amazon Video support for Ring doorbells, not receiving calls and, of course, the privacy implications.

Personally, I’ve found Portal+ to be competent in the five weeks since launch. The big screen is great as a smart photo frame and video calls look great. But Alexa and Facebook’s own voice assistant have a tough time dividing up functionality, and sometimes I can’t get either to play a specific song on Spotify, pause or change volume or other activities my Google Home has no trouble with. Facebook said it was hoping to add Google Assistant to Portal, but there’s no progress on that front yet.

The browser will be a welcome addition, and allow Facebook to sidestep some of the issues around its thin app platform. While it recently added a Smart TV version of YouTube, now users can access lots of services without those developers having to commit to building something for Portal given its uncertain future.

The hope seems to be that mainstream users who aren’t glued to the tech press where Facebook is constantly skewered might be drawn in by these device’s flashy screens and the admittedly impressive auto-zooming camera. But to overcome the brand tax levied by all of Facebook’s privacy scandals, Portal must be near perfect. Without the native apps for popular video providers like Netflix and Hulu, consistent voice recognition and more unique features missing from competing smart displays, the fear of Facebook’s surveillance may be outweighing people’s love for shiny new gadgets.

]]>https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/14/facebook-portal-browser/feed/21759089OffGridBox raises $1.6M to charge and hydrate rural Africa with its all-in-one installationshttps://techcrunch.com/2018/12/13/offgridbox-raises-1-6m-to-charge-and-hydrate-rural-africa-with-its-all-in-one-installations/
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/13/offgridbox-raises-1-6m-to-charge-and-hydrate-rural-africa-with-its-all-in-one-installations/#commentsThu, 13 Dec 2018 18:15:37 +0000https://techcrunch.com/?p=1756859The simplest needs are often the most vital: power and clean water will get you a long way. But in rural areas of developing countries they can both be hard to come by. OffGridBox is attempting to provide both, sustainably and profitably, while meeting humanitarian and ecological goals at the same time. The company just raised $1.6 million to pursue its lofty agenda.

The idea is fairly simple, though naturally rather difficult to engineer: Use solar power to provide to a small community both electricity (in the form of charged batteries) and potable water. It’s not easy, and it’s not autonomous — but that’s by design.

They’ve installed 38 boxes so far, some at their own expense and others with the help of backers. Each is about the size of a small shed — a section of a shipping container, with a scaffold on top to attach the solar cells. Inside are the necessary components for storing electricity and distributing it to dozens of rechargeable batteries and lights at a time, plus a water reservoir and purifier.

Water from a nearby unsafe natural (or municipal, really) source is trucked or piped in and replenishes the reservoir. The solar cells run the purifier, providing clean water for cheap — around a third of what a family would normally pay, by the team’s estimate — and potentially with a much shorter trek. Simultaneously, charged batteries and lights are rented out at similarly low rates to people otherwise without electricity. Each box can generate as much as 12 kWh per day, which is split between the two tasks.

The alternatives for these communities would generally be small dedicated solar installations, the upfront cost of which can be unrealistic for them. The average household spend for electricity, Billett told me, is around 43 cents per day; OffGridBox will be offering it for less than half that, about 18 cents.

It doesn’t run itself: The box is administrated by a local merchant, who handles payments and communication with OffGridBox itself. Young women are targeted for this role, as they are more likely to be long-term residents of the area and members of the community. The box acts as a small business for them, essentially drawing money out of the air.

OffGridBox works with local nonprofits to find likely candidates; the women pictured above were recommended by Women for Women. They in turn will support others who, for example, deliver or resell the water or run side businesses that rely on the electricity provided. There’s even an associated local bottled water brand now — “Amaziyateke,” named after a big leaf that collects rainwater, but in Rwanda is also slang for a beautiful woman.

Some boxes are being set up to offer Wi-Fi as well via a cellular or satellite connection, which has its own obvious benefits. And recently people have been asking for the ability to play music at home, so the company started including portable speakers. This was unexpected, but an easy demand to meet, said Billett — “It is critical to listen!”

The company does do some work to keep the tech running efficiently and safely, remotely monitoring for problems and scheduling maintenance calls. So these things aren’t just set down and forgotten. That said, they can and have run for hundreds of thousands of hours — years — without major work being done.

Each box costs about $15,000 to build, plus roughly another $10,000 to deliver and install. The business model has an investor or investors cover this initial cost, then receive a share of the revenue for the life of the box. At capacity usage this might take around two years, after which the revenue split shifts (from a negotiable initial split to 50/50); it’s a small, safe source of income for years to come. At around $10,000 of revenue per year per box with full utilization, the IRR is estimated at 15 percent.

What OffGridBox believes is that this model is better than any other for quick deployment of these boxes. Grants are an option, of course, and they can also be brought in for disaster relief purposes. Originally the idea was to sell these to rich folks who wanted to live off the grid or have a more self-sufficient mountain cabin, but this is definitely better — for a lot of reasons. (You could probably still get one for yourself if you really wanted.)

OffGridBox has been through the Techstars accelerator as part of a 2017 group, and worked through 2018, as I mentioned earlier, to secure funding from a variety of sources. This seed round totaling $1.6 million was led by the Doen and Good Energies Foundations; the Banque Populaire du Rwanda is also a partner.

Along with a series A planned for 2019, this money will support the deployment of a total of 42 box installations in Rwandan communities.

“This will help us become a major player in the energy and water markets in Rwanda while empowering women entrepreneurs, fighting biocontamination for improved health, and introducing lighting in rural homes,” said Cecchini in the press release announcing the funding.

Alternative or complementary sources of power, such as wind, are being looked into, and desalination of water (as opposed to just sterilization) is being actively researched. This would increase the range and reliability of the boxes, naturally, and make island communities much more realistic.

Those 42 boxes are just the beginning: The company hopes to deploy as many as 1,000 throughout Rwanda, and even then that would only reach a fifth of the country’s off-grid market. By partnering with local energy concerns and banks, OffGridBox hopes to deploy as many as 100 boxes a year, potentially bringing water and power to as many as 100,000 more people.

]]>https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/13/offgridbox-raises-1-6m-to-charge-and-hydrate-rural-africa-with-its-all-in-one-installations/feed/11756859Virgin Galactic touches the edge of space with Mach 2.9 test flight of SpaceShipTwohttps://techcrunch.com/2018/12/13/virgin-galactic-touches-the-edge-of-space-with-mach-2-9-test-flight-of-spaceshiptwo/
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/13/virgin-galactic-touches-the-edge-of-space-with-mach-2-9-test-flight-of-spaceshiptwo/#commentsThu, 13 Dec 2018 17:30:30 +0000https://techcrunch.com/?p=1758621The fourth test flight of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo took its test pilots to the very edge of space this morning, reaching just over 52 miles of altitude and a maximum speed of Mach 2.9. It’s another exciting leapfrog of the aspiring space tourism company’s previous achievements.

The actual spacecraft, SpaceShipTwo, was strapped to the belly of WhiteKnightTwo (VSS Unity and VMS Eve specifically) as the latter gave it a ride up to about 45,000 feet.

At that point SpaceShipTwo ignited its rocket engine and started zooming upwards at increasing speed. The 60-second burn of the engine, 18 seconds longer than the third test flight’s, took the craft up to Mach 2.9 — quite a bit faster than before.

After that minute-long burn SpaceShipTwo deployed its “feathers,” helping slow and guide it to a controlled re-entry. It had at this point reached 271,268 feet, approximately 51.4 miles or 82.7 kilometers. Here’s the view from that lofty altitude:

Now, space “officially” begins by international consensus at 100 km, at what’s called the Karman line. But space-like conditions begin well before that, and a planned altitude of around 80 km was good enough for NASA to load a set of microgravity experiments onto the craft. They even told Virgin “welcome to suborbital space.”

(Update: Virgin Galactic tells me they are basing entry into space on the fact that NASA and the Air Force both award “astronaut wings” to pilots who fly above 50 miles. Notably this is also generally the altitude at which aircraft are more or less no longer governed by traditional aerodynamic principles, having left the atmosphere behind.)

Some have also suggested space should officially start at 80 km instead. So while it may be debated whether Virgin Galactic went to space (the company is saying so), it definitely got close enough to get a taste of it. The next flight seems likely to reach the Karman line, as well.

And the pilots, Mark “Forger” Stucky and CJ Sturckow, are definitely astronauts. No question about that.

Today, for the first time in history, a crewed spaceship, built to carry private passengers, reached space. Today we completed our first revenue generating flight and our pilots earned their Commercial Astronaut Wings. This is a momentous day and I could not be more proud of our teams who together have opened a new chapter of space exploration.

]]>https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/13/virgin-galactic-touches-the-edge-of-space-with-mach-2-9-test-flight-of-spaceshiptwo/feed/11758621Amazon is officially stocking Google Chromecasts yet againhttps://techcrunch.com/2018/12/13/amazon-is-officially-stocking-google-chromecasts-yet-again/
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/13/amazon-is-officially-stocking-google-chromecasts-yet-again/#commentsThu, 13 Dec 2018 16:59:46 +0000https://techcrunch.com/?p=1758584There’s been a break in the multi-year feud between Google and Amazon, apparently, as Amazon is now — once again — selling Google Chromecast devices on its site. The devices were banned from Amazon back in 2015, when the retailer then decided that only devices supporting Prime Video would be allowed. A year ago, it said it was assorting Chromecast but that didn’t hold up. Instead, the two companies entered into another feud — this time over Amazon’s implementation of a YouTube player on its Echo Show.

But now, things seem to be cooling down again.

As first spotted by Android Police, Chomecasts are back for sale on Amazon.com.

Amazon declined to offer a public statement on the matter, but TechCrunch has confirmed that the Amazon assortment officially includes these two devices — that is, their listings are not a fluke or a mistake.

Of course, this leaves some Chromecast users hopeful that Google has chosen to support Prime Video — especially since that’s the reason why Amazon finally allowed the Apple TV back on its site last year, after those two companies buried their own hatchet. That’s not the case as of today, however.

It’s a shame that Amazon and Google haven’t been able to play nice, as it’s consumers who suffer as a result.

Not only was it impossible for Amazon shoppers to find one of the most popular streamers on the market, Chromecast’s lack of Prime Video means that Fire TV also lacks Google’s YouTube TV. Access to these streaming services are a major selling point for media players, and likely a key reason why the more agnostic platform Roku has fared so well.

Asked what this means for the Google-Amazon relationship, a Google spokesperson responded: “We continue to discuss with Amazon how we might reach an agreement for the benefit of our mutual customers. We hope we can reach an agreement to resolve these issues soon.”

]]>https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/13/amazon-is-officially-stocking-google-chromecasts-yet-again/feed/21758584Tempow’s new Bluetooth profile lets you create AirPods clones more easilyhttps://techcrunch.com/2018/12/13/tempows-new-bluetooth-profile-lets-you-create-airpods-clones-more-easily/
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/13/tempows-new-bluetooth-profile-lets-you-create-airpods-clones-more-easily/#commentsThu, 13 Dec 2018 16:12:55 +0000https://techcrunch.com/?p=1758580French startup Tempow has been working on software solutions to improve the Bluetooth protocol. The company just unveiled the Tempow True Wireless Bluetooth profile so that anybody can create AirPods clones.

Many companies have tried creating a pair of earbuds with absolutely no wire. But none of them are as good as Apple’s AirPods. Manufacturers can’t quite recreate the same experience because Apple has developed its own chip and software solution.

But A2DP normally only lets you connect one device with one headphone. And that’s also what’s happening with AirPods. Your phone establishes a link with one of the earbuds. The second earbud then sniffs the first link.

Other manufacturers have tried to create wireless earbuds by establishing a second connection between the second earbud and the main earbud. They often use Near Field Magnetic Induction. This uses a lot of battery and creates latency issues.

Tempow has been rewriting the Bluetooth stack so that manufacturers can use normal Bluetooth chipsets and pair a single device with multiple speakers. Using this solution for wireless earbuds seems like a natural fit.

The Nomad AirPod Rugged Case adds a little character to the sterile AirPod housing. Instead of medical-grade white, the case covers the AirPods in pleasant leather.

The case does two things. One, it makes your AirPod case stand out from the rest, ensuring a friend doesn’t mistake your AirPods for their AirPods. Two, the leather adds nice texture to the case, making it a bit easier to grasp.

That’s it. Short. For $29.99, the Nomad AirPod Rugged Case is a lovely upgrade for the AirPods.

[gallery ids="1757797,1757799,1757798,1757822"]

]]>https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/12/review-nomad-leather-airpod-rugged-case/feed/01757813Let’s talk hardware in Vegashttps://techcrunch.com/2018/12/12/lets-talk-hardware-in-vegas/
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/12/lets-talk-hardware-in-vegas/#commentsWed, 12 Dec 2018 14:20:11 +0000https://techcrunch.com/?p=1757751Hello, Las Vegas! We are all heading to LV for CES next month and instead of spending all our cash on a booth we’ll be wandering the halls and want to meet you as far away from the Convention Center as possible without ending up in the Grand Canyon.

And we need your help.

While I have some ideas, I’d love it if someone could recommend a nice place to host about 150 people with drinks, food and other goodies. We’ll have beer, exhibitors and some good times.

If you have any ideas or would like to take part as a sponsor or exhibitor, please drop me a line at john@techcrunch.com. I’m thinking something nice out in Old Las Vegas or somewhere off the strip where we don’t have to push through crowds of people in lanyards. This event will be open to all of you, so get your blue suede dancing shoes ready.

]]>https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/12/lets-talk-hardware-in-vegas/feed/21757751Review: Amazon Echo Input is the easiest way to stream media to speakershttps://techcrunch.com/2018/12/12/review-amazon-echo-input-is-the-easiest-way-to-stream-media-to-speakers/
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/12/review-amazon-echo-input-is-the-easiest-way-to-stream-media-to-speakers/#commentsWed, 12 Dec 2018 13:18:07 +0000https://techcrunch.com/?p=1757714This is the Echo I’ve been waiting for.

Throughout my house, I have Amazon Echo Dots connected to stereo systems. In my office, I have a Dot connected to an Onkyo receiver and amp. In my basement, I have one hooked up to a small bookshelf system. Outside on the deck, a Dot serves audio to a small amp that powers outside speakers. There’s more, but the point is made. The Dot is a great device to add voice services to existing speakers. But with its built-in speaker, I’m paying for features I’m not using.

That’s why Amazon made the Echo Input.

The premise is simple: The Input is a Dot without a speaker. It has a mic, two buttons and, most importantly, a 3.5mm output. This output lets the Input serve media to amps and powered speakers — just like I’m doing with a Dot.

Because the Input doesn’t have a speaker, it’s much smaller. It’s only half an inch thick. It’s a tiny thing, and I found it does the job as well as a Dot.

Plug it in, set it up and the Input adds voice services to speaker systems. From Bluetooth speakers to bookshelf speakers, it’s a great way to bring the convenience of Alexa to speakers.

The device is basic. To be clear, this is not a Hi-Fi device. To me, that’s okay on most speaker systems, as I’m just streaming Spotify and NPR. Hopefully Amazon makes good on producing the Input’s Hi-Fi cousin, the $199 Echo Link. This device was announced a few months back and performs a similar task as the Input, but features TOSLINK and coaxial digital audio outputs for connections to a proper DAC (though it does not have a mic). The $299 Echo Link Amp does the same, but features a built-in amplifier to directly power a set of speakers. The Input is great for smaller speakers, but the Echo Link should provide a higher-fidelity experience — and now that Tidal is available on the Echo, there’s a proper source, too.

The Echo Link is said to be released on December 13.

For $35, the Echo Input does its job well. However, during the holidays, the Echo Dot is only $29.99 or less and features the same 3.5mm output. Unless size is a concern, I would recommend buying the Dot while it’s on sale, just in case you need the speaker at a later time.

]]>https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/12/review-amazon-echo-input-is-the-easiest-way-to-stream-media-to-speakers/feed/21757714Bumblebees bearing high-tech backpacks act as a living data collection platformhttps://techcrunch.com/2018/12/11/bumble-bees-bearing-high-tech-backpacks-act-as-a-living-data-collection-platform/
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/11/bumble-bees-bearing-high-tech-backpacks-act-as-a-living-data-collection-platform/#respondTue, 11 Dec 2018 21:35:51 +0000https://techcrunch.com/?p=1757437There’s lots of research going intotiny drones, but one of the many hard parts is keeping them in the air for any real amount of time. Why not hitch a ride on something that already flies all day? That’s the idea behind this project that equips bumblebees with sensor-filled backpacks that charge wirelessly and collect data on the fields they visit.

A hive full of these cyber-bees could help monitor the health of a field by checking temperature and humidity, as well as watching for signs of rot or distress in the crops. A lot of this is done manually now, and of course drones are being set to work doing it, but if the bees are already there, why not get them to help out?

The “Living IoT” backpack, a tiny wafer loaded with electronics and a small battery, was designed by University of Washington engineers led by Shyam Gollakota. He’s quick to note that although the research does to a certain extent take advantage of these clumsy, fuzzy creatures, they were careful to “follow best methods for care and handling.”

Part of that is minimizing the mass of the pack; other experiments have put RFID antennas and such on the backs of bees and other insects, but this is much more sophisticated.

[gallery ids="1757459,1757477,1757479,1757480,1757481,1757482"]

The chip has sensors and an integrated battery that lets it run for seven hours straight, yet weighs just 102 milligrams. A full-grown bumblebee, for comparison, could weigh anywhere from two to six times that.

They’re strong fliers, if not graceful ones, and can carry three-quarters of their body weight in pollen and nectar when returning to the hive. So the backpack, while far from unnoticeable, is still well within their capabilities; the team checked with biologists in the know first, of course.

“We showed for the first time that it’s possible to actually do all this computation and sensing using insects in lieu of drones,” explained Gollakota in a UW news release. “We decided to use bumblebees because they’re large enough to carry a tiny battery that can power our system, and they return to a hive every night where we could wirelessly recharge the batteries.”

The backpacks can track location passively by monitoring the varying strengths of signals from nearby antennas, up to a range of about 80 meters. The data they collect is transferred while they’re in the hive via an energy-efficient backscatter method that Gollakota has used in other projects.

The applications are many and various, though obviously limited to what can be observed while the bees go about their normal business. It could even help keep the bees themselves healthy.

“It would be interesting to see if the bees prefer one region of the farm and visit other areas less often,” said co-author Sawyer Fuller. “Alternatively, if you want to know what’s happening in a particular area, you could also program the backpack to say: ‘Hey bees, if you visit this location, take a temperature reading.’ ”

It is of course just in prototype form right now, but one can easily imagine the tech being deployed by farmers in the near future, or perhaps in a more sinister way by three-letter agencies wanting to put a bee on the wall near important conversations. The team plans to present their work (PDF) at the ACM MobiCom conference next year.

]]>https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/11/bumble-bees-bearing-high-tech-backpacks-act-as-a-living-data-collection-platform/feed/01757437Lift Aircraft’s Hexa may be your first multirotor drone ridehttps://techcrunch.com/2018/12/11/lift-aircrafts-hexa-may-be-your-first-multirotor-drone-ride/
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/11/lift-aircrafts-hexa-may-be-your-first-multirotor-drone-ride/#commentsTue, 11 Dec 2018 20:16:13 +0000https://techcrunch.com/?p=1757280We were promised jetpacks, but let’s be honest, they’re just plain unsafe. So a nice drone ride is probably all we should reasonably expect. Lift Aircraft is the latest to make a play for the passenger multirotor market, theoretical as it is, and its craft is a sleek little thing with some interesting design choices to make it suitable for laypeople to “pilot.”

The Austin-based company just took the wraps off the Hexa, the 18-rotor craft it intends to make available for short recreational flights. It just flew for the first time last month, and could be taking passengers aloft as early as next year.

The Hexa is considerably more lightweight than the aircraft that seemed to be getting announced every month or two earlier this year. Lift’s focus isn’t on transport, which is a phenomenally complicated problem both in terms of regulation and engineering. Instead, it wants to simply make the experience of flying in a giant drone available for thrill-seekers with a bit of pocket money.

This reduced scope means the craft can get away with being just 432 pounds and capable of 10-15 minutes of sustained flight with a single passenger. Compared with Lilium’s VTOL engines or Volocopter’s 36-foot wingspan, this thing looks like a toy. And that’s essentially what it is, for now. But there’s something to be said for proving your design in a comparatively easily accessed market and moving up, rather than trying to invent an air taxi business from scratch.

“Multi-seat eVTOL air taxis, especially those that are designed to transition to wing-borne flight, are probably 10 years away and will require new regulations and significant advances in battery technology to be practical and safe. We didn’t want to wait for major technology or regulatory breakthroughs to start flying,” said CEO Matt Chasen in a news release. “We’ll be flying years before anyone else.”

The Hexa is flown with a single joystick and an iPad; direct movements and attitude control are done with the former, while destination-based movement, take-off and landing take place on the latter. This way people can go from walking in the front door to flying one of these things — or rather riding in one and suggesting some directions to go — in an hour or so.

It’s small enough that it doesn’t even count as a “real” aircraft; it’s a “powered ultralight,” which is a plus and a minus: no pilot’s license necessary, but you can’t go past a few hundred feet of altitude or fly over populated areas. No doubt there’s still a good deal of fun you can have flying around a sort of drone theme park, though. The whole area will have been 3D mapped prior to flight, of course.

Lifting the Hexa are 18 rotors, each of which is powered by its own battery, which spreads the risk out considerably and makes it simple to swap them out. As far as safety is concerned, it can run with up to six engines down, and has pontoons in case of a water landing and an emergency parachute should the unthinkable happen.

The team is looking to roll out its drone-riding experience soon, but it has yet to select its first city. Finding a good location, checking with the community, getting the proper permits — not simple. Chasen told New Atlas the craft is “not very loud, but they’re also not whisper-quiet, either.” I’m thinking “not very loud” is in comparison to jets — every drone I’ve ever come across, from palm-sized to cargo-bearing, has made an incredible racket, and if someone wanted to start a drone preserve next door I’d fight it tooth and nail. (Apparently Seattle is high on the list, too, so this may come to pass.)

In a sense, engineering a working autonomous multirotor aircraft was the easy part of building this business. Chasen told GeekWire that the company has raised a “typical-size seed round,” and is preparing for a Series A — probably once it has a launch city in its sights.

We’ll likely hear more at SXSW in March, where the Hexa will likely fly its first passengers.

]]>https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/11/lift-aircrafts-hexa-may-be-your-first-multirotor-drone-ride/feed/11757280Puma reissues its nerdiest shoe ever, the RS-Computerhttps://techcrunch.com/2018/12/11/puma-reissues-its-nerdiest-shoe-ever-the-rs-computer/
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/11/puma-reissues-its-nerdiest-shoe-ever-the-rs-computer/#commentsTue, 11 Dec 2018 18:27:40 +0000https://techcrunch.com/?p=1757232No one has any trouble tracking their steps today. But how can you make sure people know you’re doing it? Ostentatiously checking your phone or watch every five minutes is a pain. What if I told you there was a shoe with a step-tracking computer sticking out of it where everyone could see? It’s a Puma . It was born in 1986, and will be reborn in 2018 — briefly.

The RS Computer was among the early stumbling steps of the personal computer era, when everyone thought that, since people were buying Amigas and Macs, they’d probably buy computer shoes as well. It didn’t really pan out, needless to say.

But what was deeply uncool in 1986 is, 30-some years later, strangely compelling. And it helps that you don’t have to attach it to a command line interface with a special 16-pin cable every time you want to check your steps.

Yes, the reissued RS Computer (RS stands for “running system,” not “robo-shoe”) is coming out the day after tomorrow at select retailers and in extremely limited quantity. The electronics have been updated not to be smaller (you could hide them away completely, after all) but simply to work with modern devices. That’s right — no need to break out your Apple IIe or C64.

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Instead of that cable you have Bluetooth, and inside the unit is an accelerometer that should more accurately measure steps and distance. It stores up to 30 days of data and you can recharge the shoe via micro USB.

I love that the giant computer unit literally has screws on it, and the red and black buttons — resembling battery poles — probably serve no purpose but were left on anyway. This is definitely a shoe that people will pay attention to. Just try not to overdo the look with a Casio calculator watch and Zack Morris phone. Know your limitations.

The 86 pairs of RS Computers will be available day after tomorrow (the 13th) at Puma stores in London, Berlin (I just left!) and Tokyo, as well as a few other retailers, including Kith. You should probably call your local stockist now and ask.

]]>https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/11/puma-reissues-its-nerdiest-shoe-ever-the-rs-computer/feed/11757232Capture lets you grab real 3D models with your iPhone X’s powerful camerahttps://techcrunch.com/2018/12/11/capture-lets-you-grab-real-3d-models-with-your-iphone-xs-powerful-camera/
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/11/capture-lets-you-grab-real-3d-models-with-your-iphone-xs-powerful-camera/#commentsTue, 11 Dec 2018 13:41:34 +0000https://techcrunch.com/?p=1757038Three-dimensional modeling used to be hard. It used to require something at least as big as the Xbox Kinect to get really high-quality scans, and you needed high-powered laser sensor systems. Now all you need is your phone and Capture.

Capture is a proof-of-concept for a company called Standard Cyborg led by Jeff Huber and Garrett Spiegel. These Y Combinator grads have worked in a number of high-profile vision startups and raised $2.4 million in seed from folks like Scott Banister and Trevor Blackwell.

They launched the app on December 3 and it’s already making 3D waves. The tool, which uses the iPhone X’s front camera and laser scanning system to create a live color point cloud, can create 3D models that you can view inside the app or in an AR setting. You also can export them into a USDZ file for use elsewhere. The app is actually a Trojan horse for the company’s other applications, including a programming framework for 3D scanning.

“We are at the bleeding edge — deploying 3D dense reconstruction and point cloud deep learning on mobile devices,” said Huber. “We package up this core technology for developers, abstracting away all the math and GPU acceleration, and giving them superpowers in just three lines of code.”

I’ve tried the app a few times and the resulting scans are still a little iffy. You have to take special care to slowly scan all facets of an object and if you move, as you see below, you end up with two noses. That said, it’s an amazingly cool use of the iPhone’s powerful front-facing sensors.

“Standard Cyborg is building the API for the physical world,” said Huber. “We make it easy for developers to build 3D scanning, analysis, and design into their applications. Our Capture app is a showcase of our technology that makes it easy for anyone with a FaceID-enabled iPhone to play with the technology and share scans with their friends. Our scanning SDK is launching in January and is currently in beta with a few enterprise-level sporting goods companies.”

While you won’t be scanning your loved ones into a TRON remake with this thing just yet it’s cool to think about how far we’ve come from flailing around in our living rooms with a clunky Kinect next to our TV.

]]>https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/11/capture-lets-you-grab-real-3d-models-with-your-iphone-xs-powerful-camera/feed/11757038Move over notch, the hole-punch smartphone camera is cominghttps://techcrunch.com/2018/12/11/smartphone-hole-punch-camera/
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/11/smartphone-hole-punch-camera/#commentsTue, 11 Dec 2018 11:12:11 +0000https://techcrunch.com/?p=1756960First it was the notch, now the hole-punch has emerged as the latest tech for concealing selfie cameras whilst keeping our smartphones as free of bezel as possible to maximize the screen space.

Dubbed hole-punch, the approach is part of Samsung’s new Galaxy A8s and Huawei’s View 20, which were unveiled hours apart on Tuesday. Huawei was first by just hours, although Samsung has been pretty public with its intention to explore a number notch alternatives, including the hole-punch, which makes sense given that it has persistently mocked Apple for the feature.

The Samsung Galaxy S8a will debut in China with a hole-punch spot for the camera [Image via Samsung]

Don’t expect to see any hole-punches just yet though.

The Samsung A8s is just for China right now, while the View 20 isn’t being fully unveiled until December 26 in China and, for global audiences, January 22 in Paris. We also don’t have a price for either, but they do represent a new trend that could become widely adopted across phones from other OEMs in 2019.

That’s certainly Samsung’s plan. The Korea firm is rolling out the hole-punch on the A8s, but it has plans to expand its adoption into other devices and series. The A8s itself is pretty mid-range, but that makes it an ideal candidate to test the potential appeal of a more subtle selfie camera since Samsung’s market share has fallen in China where local rivals have pushed it hard. It starts there, but it could yet be adopted in higher-end devices with global availability.

As for the View 20, Huawei has also been pretty global with its ambitions, except in the U.S., where it hasn’t managed to strike a carrier deal despite reports that it has been close before. The current crisis with its CFO — the daughter of the company’s founder who was arrested during a trip to Canada — is another stark reminder that Huawei’s business is unlikely to ever get a break in the U.S. market: so expect the View 20 to be a model for Europe and Asia.

Samsung hasn’t said a tonne about the hole-punch design, but our sister publication Engadget — which attended the View 20’s early launch event in Hong Kong — said it was mounted below the display “like a diamond” to maintain the structure.

“This hole is not a traditional hole,” Huawei told Engadget.

Huawei will no doubt also talk up the fact that its hole is 4.5mm versus an apparent 6mm from Samsung.

Small details aside, one important upcoming trend from these new devices is the birth of the “mega” megapixel smartphone camera.

]]>https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/11/smartphone-hole-punch-camera/feed/21756960Krisp reduces noise on calls using machine learning, and it’s coming to Windows soonhttps://techcrunch.com/2018/12/10/krisp-reduces-noise-on-calls-using-machine-learning-and-its-coming-to-windows-soon/
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/10/krisp-reduces-noise-on-calls-using-machine-learning-and-its-coming-to-windows-soon/#respondMon, 10 Dec 2018 18:43:54 +0000https://techcrunch.com/?p=1756288If your luck is anything like mine, as soon as you jump on an important call, someone decides it’s a great time to blow some leaves off the sidewalk outside your window. 2Hz’s Krisp is a new desktop app that uses machine learning to subtract background noise like that, or crowds, or even crying kids — while keeping your voice intact. It’s already out for Macs and it’s coming to Windows soon.

I met the creators of Krisp, including 2Hz co-founder Davit Baghdasaryan, earlier this year at UC Berkeley’s Skydeck accelerator, where they demonstrated their then-prototype tech.

The tech involved is complex, but the idea is simple: If you create a machine learning system that understands what the human voice sounds like, on average, then it can listen to an audio signal and select only that part of it, cutting out a great deal of background noise.

Baghdasaryan, formerly of Twilio, originally wanted to create something that would run on mobile networks, so T-Mobile or whoever could tout built-in noise cancellation. This platform approach proved too slow, however, so they decided to go straight to consumers.

“Traction with customers was slow, and this was a problem for a young startup,” Baghdasaryan said in an email later. However, people were loving the idea of ‘muting noise,’ so we decided to switch all our focus and build a user-facing product.”

That was around the time I talked with them in person, incidentally, and just six months later they had released on Mac.

It’s simple: You run the app, and it modifies both the outgoing and incoming audio signals, with the normal noisy signal going in one end and a clean, voice-focused one coming out the other. Everything happens on-device and with very short latency (around 15 milliseconds), so there’s no cloud involved and nothing is ever sent to any server or even stored locally. The team is working on having the software adapt and learn on the fly, but it’s not implemented yet.

Another benefit of this approach is it doesn’t need any special tweaking to work with, say, Skype instead of Webex. Because it works at the level of the OS’s sound processing, whatever app you use just hears the Krisp-modified signal as if it were clean out of your mic.

They launched on Mac because they felt the early-adopter type was more likely to be on Apple’s platform, and the bet seems to have paid off. But a Windows version is coming soon — the exact date isn’t set, but expect it either late this month or early January. (We’ll let you know when it’s live.)

It should be more or less identical to the Mac version, but there will be a special gaming-focused one. Gamers, Baghdasaryan pointed out, are much more likely to have GPUs to run Krisp on, and also have a real need for clear communication (as a PUBG player I can speak to the annoyance of an open mic and clacky keys). So there will likely be a few power-user features specific to gamers, but it’s not set in stone yet.

You may wonder, as I did, why they weren’t going after chip manufacturers, perhaps to include Krisp as a tech built into a phone or computer’s audio processor.

In person, they suggested that this ultimately was also too slow and restrictive. Meanwhile, they saw that there was no real competition in the software space, which is massively easier to enter.

“All current noise cancellation solutions require multiple microphones and a special form factor where the mouth must be close to one of the mics. We have no such requirement,” Baghdasaryan explained. “We can do it with single-mic or operate on an audio stream coming from the network. This makes it possible to run the software in any environment you want (edge or network) and any direction (inbound or outbound).”

If you’re curious about the technical side of things — how it was done with one mic, or at low latency, and so on — there’s a nice explanation Baghdasaryan wrote for the Nvidia blog a little while back.

Furthermore, a proliferation of AI-focused chips that Krisp can run on easily means easy entry to the mobile and embedded space. “We have already successfully ported our DNN to NVIDIA GPUs, Intel CPU/GNA, and ARM. Qualcomm is in the pipeline,” noted Baghdasaryan.

To pursue this work the company has raised a total of $2 million so far: $500K from Skydeck as well as friends and family for a pre-seed round, then a $1.5 M round led by Sierra Ventures and Shanda Group.

Expect the Windows release later this winter, and if you’re already a user, expect a few new features to come your way in the same time scale. You can download Krisp for free here.